Doorbells

From downstairs, we were having trouble hearing the doorbell. So at Lowe's we purchased a doorbell extender. It cost almost $30, a lot more than what I remember my parents paying for such a device a few years ago (okay, it was about 15 years ago, so with inflation...). Anyway, I installed it yesterday and almost immediately knew I'd have to adjust the sensitivity or maybe turn it off altogether. After setting it up and testing it, I went back downstairs on my merry way. Then Conlan, playing on the main floor got excited about his show. When he's either silly tired or super excited, he likes to scream. You guessed it, his screaming set off the doorbell downstairs. I wonder if Hilary's tired of it yet or not.

Parent teacher conference

Conlan had fall break this week. With the hurricane last week and fall break this week, that's two weeks in a row that he hasn't had school on Monday and Tuesday. As part of fall break, his school held parent teach conferences on Monday, and we met with his teacher that morning. I was amazed at how quickly his teacher and the aides have gotten to know Conlan. They know he likes to play with the water. They know he likes hugs and is touchy, very affectionate.  He doesn't like wearing shoes or socks.  He's a picky eater.  He's sneaky: when he thinks you're not watching he'll make his escape or start playing with water.  He's very aware of when he can get away with things.  They put up a gate so he couldn't go out the door - he's a very fast runner (another characteristic inherited from his dad ;) ).  One time he went to leave, saw the gate after opening the door, and gave up even though he often climbs the gate.  He just didn't feel like expending the extra energy to scale up and over the gate.

Halloween, dog food, and pancakes

I realize those three items in the title don’t normally go together, but with Conlan who knows!

This last weekend I made pancakes for the family.  Conlan was famished and really wanted his pancakes.  So he tried to help dad with the pancakes to somehow speed up the process.  The first pancake was almost ready to flip over. He must have wanted a bigger pancake, for he grabbed the cup, filled it with batter and proceeded to pour it onto the the half-cooked pancake already in the pan.  Of course some of it dribbled onto the counter on its way to the pan.  I had turned around or been working on something else and didn’t catch him.  The first-pancake-of-the-batch-never-turns-out-right” rule definitely applied here.  He still ate it for leftovers the next day though.  On my guard and ready this time, I helped him pour the next pancake. For this, my ears received screams of glee.  He loves pouring just about anything, not just water, and pancake batter is no exception.  He got real good at it and didn’t need much help by the time the batter ran out, though I did catch him a few times trying to add extra batter to pancakes that were still cooking.  Sure it was a little messier letting him pour the batter, but the pancakes still tasted the same and cleanup didn’t take that much longer.  Ever since he was about 1 year old, he has always loved eating pancakes, waffles, french toast and the like.  If you can put syrup on it, he’ll eat it (or just plain syrup too).

Cookies and dogs

This past weekend we decided to get out of the house. The dogs were needing some attention so we loaded both kids and both dogs into the minivan and headed to the nearest dog park. There were lots of dogs there and the area seemed small. That didn't stop us from having fun though. When Conlan is really excited and having fun, he "squeals". We heard him squeal a few times at the dog park. I love to hear him even if it does hurt my ears a little. It was a tie between the dogs and the kids for who behaved better. I was a little concerned that our intact male would pose a problem, but he didn't and had lots of fun. After nearly an hour, our female corgi started limping, and we were all ready to go so we packed up and went home. Sorry, I didn't take any pictures, maybe next time.

Touch

Hilary found yet another great show on Netflix. I really like how with Netflix, you can find shows that are real good but never really made it big for some reason or another. Anyway, Touch is about a nonverbal boy and his father. The kid sees the universe in numbers. The was one scene that I really appreciated. The last scene of the second episode, the dad is talking to the son. They had a long adventurous day and they are getting ready for bed. The dad is telling his son what he thought it meant to be a father. When he first became a father he wanted to teach his son so much, and not just how to play ball. But as his son grew older, they realized he was autistic and the dad had to grapple with how and what he could teach his son. As he was talking to his son, who was all tucked in bed, he realized that maybe he was the one that needed to learn, that his son was the teacher. So I likened it unto myself. There is so much I have already learned as Conlan's father. There is yet so much I can learn from him. Courage for one. Could you imagine getting up every day, knowing that even your parents don't know what you want? Not being to tell anyone what you want to eat, that you have to use the restroom, that you're sad or happy, that you want to play outside and just run around. That sounds depressing to me, and yet he does it every day. Every day he wakes up and gets excited about school or having pancakes for breakfast.  He gets excited when Grover learns how to jump over three moon. He gets exited to be outside. Being happy and satisfied with life is another thing I could learn from him. He gets so excited about the simplest of things. A ride in the car is a special treat. Yes, I have a lot to learn.

Like a weed

Yesterday, Hilary got up and fed the kids breakfast. A couple hours later, I fixed some turkey bacon, french toast and eggs to eat.  Conlan ended up eating about 4 full pieces of bacon, 3 or 4 slices of french toast and whatever else he could find including some graham crackers and pop tarts.  I did manage to save some for myself but felt guilty for hiding it from him; I had to scarf it down before he saw it.  I don't know what he had for breakfast round 1, but he definitely was hungry just a couple hours later.  He's surely going through another growth spurt.  He has been sleeping more than usual - actually through most nights!  I can't believe how tall he is getting.  It's a lot bigger of a chore carrying him up two flights of stairs to his bed at night.  What's it going to be like during his teenage years?!  We'd better start saving up for the grocery bill now. :)

Interactions, teaching

For a couple weeks I have been pondering how to truly interact with Conlan. A lot of the time, Gavin will be demanding my whole attention while Conlan does his thing across the room. At night, Gavin brings me a book to read, and I try to involve Conlan. That lasts for about 20 seconds before he goes to do something else. Gavin just soaks up knowledge. It is so easy to teach him new words and how to do stuff. He is always wanting to help dad fix stuff or mom with household chores. Conlan though, is more like me. Throughout college, I had this attitude that I could learn anything, and on my own.  Why would I ask someone if I could read it in a book or google it on the Internet? I didn't want someone telling me but to discover and learn it for and by myself. I think Conlan is similar. He steps back and observes. He stays at the perimeter just watching and listening.  On car rides he stares out the window with a look of deep concentration. I wonder what goes on in that mind of his. Sometimes he'll surprise us with something new he has learned. We never saw him practice it and all of a sudden, he is doing it. It is like he plays it out in his mind over and over again until he is certain that he can do it without flaw.
So, anyway, I've been trying to get on his level and do more with him than just the standard tickle and "zerber" wars. Since he loves pouring water, I had him help me wash the dishes using hand over hand. That seemed to work for a little while until he wanted to pour the water out of the sink.
Lately, he has been taking off all of his clothes. We worry about him getting sick, especially since we recently moved from Arizona to a cooler climate. He won't even keep on his jacket outside. Maybe I should take off all my clothes too in order to get on his level...